Inclusion

I apologize in advance for a couple things. First my computer is on the fritz, so I'm posting from my phone! Second I apologize if this post is all over the place! I feel like I'm being pulled in a bunch of different directions when it comes to inclusion, and that may also come out in this post! 

Inclusion can be a heated topic. This post is not meant to be like that, just my feelings as a mom that has two children on complete opposite ends of the disability spectrum!

I look at my beautiful girl, and I don't even feel like I can call her disabled! No she doesn't talk, but she signs and she communicates. Besides that she has no disability that I feel is all that different from many children! I remember a friend did a post on inclusion and a mom had the nerve to say that she doesn't want her perfect children to have time taken away from them if a child with special needs is in their class! All I can say is this mom is not even paying attention to her own child's school! Chances are if you went into your child's class, there is at least one, probably more children that get pulled out of class and goes to resource for special help! Some children struggle with math, some with spelling, it doesn't mean that your child is getting any less attention than they should be getting!

We all struggle in one or more areas of life, so are we all disabled in some way? Right now Arina is in preschool, when she starts school I want her to go into a classroom with "typical" peers. I don't feel like there's any reason she should be separated! If down the road she isn't learning the way she should, than I would definitely consider putting her in a special day class, a class where she spends the entire day with a special Ed teacher. As a matter of fact, Tanner was pulled out of his class a few months ago and put in a special day class. His learning had slipped quite a bit, and he was getting farther and farther behind his peers. He is thriving in the special day class, and I know that's the best place for him right now! 

Now Jax, oh sweet Jax! His schooling has been a nightmare! Obviously he was referred to the special needs school, where severely delayed children go. I wasn't impressed with the school itself. I know it's a budget issue, but that doesn't make it right. It's very dark and old and outdated. Nothing at the school screams "this would greatly benefit Jax!" And even though Jax would have a home nurse go with him to school, I wasn't impressed with the staff nurses abilities. They didn't know how to suction a trach or even what the suction catheters were called. I just didn't feel it was worth Jax health to go to a school that didn't have great therapy equipment like he needs. We decided to do home/hospital until I figured out what I wanted for him. Up until this time we STILL had yet to get him an IEP done! So a teacher comes out to meet him, and then never comes back. I hear nothing until I call, and I'm finally told the teacher couldn't do it anymore! I actually called and talked to Tanners teacher, a special ed teacher. She said their school does mild/moderate, like tanner, and severe. She was a tad worried about Jax medical needs, although I reassured her that he would have his own personal nurse with him the entire time. But without an IEP the boys school can't decide if Jax would be ok there. The boys would love if Jax could go to their school, and I think it would benefit the other kids as well, interacting with a child like Jax. Of course  if he went to the boys school it would be harder to keep little hands off him! Again it puts me in a great dilemma about what's best for Jax! I'm all about including him in whatever we can. So I feel like we should at least give it a try! I'm going to call tomorrow and demand a new case worker and an IEP to be scheduled for him immediately! 

So you can see why this is so wishy washy with me! This whole inclusion and school thing can be such a battle! I'm just glad that Arina and Tanners process has been smooth and direct, and we'll work on getting Jax there too, wherever his placement ends up! And it may change a few times until we find the right fit!